Interstate 5 has reopened after a truck fire closed the northbound lanes between the California-Oregon border and Ashland this morning, causing lengthy delays.

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Posted Aug. 28, 2014 at 7:45 AM
Updated Aug 28, 2014 at 10:52 AM

Posted Aug. 28, 2014 at 7:45 AM
Updated Aug 28, 2014 at 10:52 AM

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10:28 a.m. Interstate 5 has reopened after a truck fire closed the northbound lanes between the California-Oregon border and Ashland this morning, causing lengthy delays.

The lanes reopened around 8:40 a.m., Oregon Department of Transportation officials reported. The last firetrucks left the scene about an hour later, Jackson County Fire District No. 5 Capt. Tony Halley said.

Halley said crews were called to a truck fire just before 5 a.m. on I-5 about five miles south of Ashland. They found a FedEx truck engulfed in flames. The fire spread to one of two trailers the truck was pulling.

Fire crews called for an additional water tanker and crews from Ashland Fire and Rescue and Oregon Department of Forestry, Halley said. An ODOT excavator came to break up the trailer, which carried a mixed load of parcels, so firefighters could access the fire. The flames spread a little into roadside grass, but were quickly extinguished.

The northbound lanes of the freeway were closed while crews worked. ODOT reported that the waiting line of traffic grew to three miles long before the interstate reopened.

8 a.m. Northbound Interstate 5 remains closed 10 miles north of the California border, following a double-trailer semi crash earlier this morning that caused a fire along the highway, the Oregon Department of Transportation reported.

The semi is loaded with cardboard. Traffic is being held until the fire can be extinguished. ODOT officials didn't have an estimate on when the lanes might reopen.